Morgoth
Melkor '''(Quenya; IPA: "He who arises in might") or '''Melko, later known predominantly as Morgoth '''(Sindarin; IPA: "Black Foe of the World"), the '''Dark Enemy '''or as '''Morgoth the Oppressor, was the first Dark Lord, and the first of the fallen Ainur in Eä. Originally one of the most powerful of the Ainur created by Eru Iluvatar, lesser only than his brother Manwë the Wise, Melkor rebelled against his creator out of pride and sought to either corrupt Arda or bring about its destruction. His committing of many evils in the First Age, such as the theft of the Silmarils, which resulted in his name Morgoth the Black Foe of the World, and the destruction of the Two Lamps and the Two Trees of Valinor made him be remembered as one of the most dreaded foes, rivalled only by Sauron the Enemy and Glaurung the Father of Dragons, both being very important commanders and leaders of armies aligned with Morgoth's hosts. During the War of Wrath, the Host of Valinor vanquished the fallen Vala's armies and cast him into the Void, never to return. History Beginning Melkor was created by Eru Iluvatar in the Timeless Halls, at the beginning of creation. His brother was Manwë, higher than Melkor in knowledge of Eru's thoughts. Impatient with the emptiness of the Great Void outside the Timeless Halls, and desiring to create things of his own, Melkor often went forth into the Void in search of the Flame Imperishable. But the Flame was of Iluvatar and resided with him, and Melkor never discovered it. He continued to search, however, and as such was often alone and apart from his fellow Ainur. It was during these lonesome periods that Melkor began to have ideas and thoughts of his own that were not in accordance with his fellow Ainur (save only for Sauron, but this was not until later). When the Ainur sang the Great Music before Eru, Melkor wove some of these alien thoughts into his music, and straightaway Discord arose around him. Some of those nearby attuned their music to his, until two musical themes were warring before the Throne. To correct the Discord, Eru introduced a Second, and then a Third Theme into the music. But Melkor succeeded in holding back the Second theme, of which Manwë was the chief instrument. The Third was the theme of Elves and Men, and while it was not overwhelmed by the Discord as the Second theme was, it too failed to correct it. When Eru brought the Music to an end, he rebuked Melkor, praising his strength but reminding him that, as an aspect of his creator's thought, anything that Melkor could bring into being ultimately had its source within Eru himself. As such, even the Discord redounded in the end to the glory of Eru's work. This rebuke shamed Melkor, but brought on anger in him as well, though he hid it. Thus when the Music was made incarnate as Arda, it was already flawed through the Discord, and immoderate heat and great cold stalked it. Melkor then took in the interest of the World and descended to it with the other Valar. Arrival in Arda When the Valar entered into Arda and began to shape the unwrought matter, Melkor saw the Field of Arda and claimed it for his own. However, the other Valar took Manwë to be their lord, for while Manwë was not nearly so powerful as Melkor, he understood the thought of Eru better than any of his peers. Bitter, Melkor set himself against the other Valar. Whenever the Valar worked to better the world, Melkor disrupted their efforts. For a long while, Melkor fought alone against the might of all the other Valar and Maiar of Arda, and he long held the upper hand. During this time, Arda was kept essentially shapeless, as Melkor ruined virtually every early work that the other Valar attempted to create. Fortunately for them, the mighty Valar Tulkas eventually descended to Arda, and his strength tipped the balance in favor of the Valar. Melkor fled before him, and left Arda for a time. Years of the Lamps After Melkor's departure, the Valar managed to quiet the tumults of the world, and set about ordering it in preparation for the coming of the Elves. To give light to the world, they constructed two Great Lamps in Middle-earth and set their place of dwelling in the midst of them. During this time, Melkor re-entered Arda with the various Maiar spirits who had attuned themselves to his music, and delved a mighty fortress at the very north-most part of the World and named it Utumno, To defend it he raised the Mountains of the East in the northeast of Middle-earth, east of the Sea of Helcar. Decay arose in the North, and the Valar thus knew that Melkor had returned. Before they could begin to search for him however, Melkor came forth from Utumno with sudden war, and cast down the Lamps. The fire within the Lamps scorched a great portion of the world, and containing the catastrophe caused by their breaking kept the Valar occupied long enough for Melkor and his forces to retreat back to Utumno. After the destruction of the Lamps, the Valar withdrew to the continent of Aman and there built Valinor. In doing so, however, they gave Melkor virtually free-reign in Middle-earth. As a result, the continent languished in darkness, and Melkor filled its lands with terrible creatures and decay. During this time, Melkor built his second, lesser fortress of Angband in the west, as a defense from the West should the Valar attack. Angband was delved into the Iron Mountains, and was given to Sauron, Aulë's master smith and greatest Maiar, to command. While the Valar were unsure where the Children of Ilúvatar would awake, they were reluctant to wage war against Melkor, fearing the clash of powers might result in massive collateral damage the likes of which they had not seen since the Lamps were destroyed. Years of the Trees When it was discovered by the Vala Oromë where the Elves would eventually, the Valar took immediate action against Melkor, instigating the War of the Powers, for they hoped to prevent him from enslaving them. The Valar overcame the Melkor's hosts of Balrogs and other demons, forcing him retreat into Utumno. After a grievous siege, the Valar rent the doors open and the Dark Enemy was captured. Melkor was bound with Angainor and brought back to Valinor. There, he pleaded for pardon, but was cast into the Halls of Mandos for three Ages. However, in their haste to overthrow Melkor, the Valar left many of Utumno's pits and vaults unexplored, and Sauron, an even more intriguing villain, remained at large. Additionally, they did not capture or destroy the surviving Balrogs, some of whom gathered at the ruins of Angband and went into a long hibernation, awaiting Melkor's return, while others were ensnared by Sauron's growing power. After the passing of the Ages, Melkor was brought before Manwë, and feigned repentance. Unable to comprehend the evil of Melkor, being himself free of it, Manwë ordered him released. At first, it seemed as though the evil of Melkor had been cured, for all who sought his counsel and aid in that time benefited greatly from it. However, Tulkas and Ulmo were both very slow to forget Melkor's evils, and watched him closely. In truth, Melkor was more filled with malice than ever, and began to put his extraordinary cunning to use in devising a way to ruin Aman. Seeing the bliss of the Elves and remembering that it was for their sake that he was overthrown, Melkor desired above all things to corrupt them. Of all the three primary groups of Elves, he found the Ñoldor to have a perfect balance of usefulness and open ears, and so worked his malice almost exclusively among them. Over a long period of time he spread lies concerning the intentions of the Valar in bringing the Elves to Aman, telling them, among other things, tales of the coming of Men, the existence of which the Valar had not revealed to the Elves. Due to his carefully crafted lies, many of the Ñoldor began to believe that the Valar had brought them to Aman so that Men might inherit Middle-earth, taking the lands and the glory that could have been theirs. Eventually, a shadow fell upon the Ñoldor, and they began to openly rebel against the Valar. Chief amongst the disgruntled Noldor was Fëanor, the firstborn son of the Ñoldor King Finwë. Though he hated and feared Melkor, his overwhelming pride caused him to be the most vocal of the Ñoldor in expressing discontent. For their part, the Valar remained unaware of Melkor's work, and saw Fëanor as the source of the Ñoldor's unrest. Though perturbed, they let the situation continue until Fëanor threatened his brother Fingolfin with violence, at which point the Valar summoned him to the Ring of Doom in Valinor to explain his unlawful actions. Fëanor's testimony revealed the lies of Melkor, and Tulkas immediately left the Ring of Doom to recapture him. But Melkor could not be found. After a time, Melkor went to Formenos and feigned friendship to Fëanor in order to acquire the Silmarils. But Fëanor, seeing Melkor's greed, refused him and shut the doors of Formenos in the face of Arda's mightiest being. Melkor then passed unseen to the south, and came upon Ungoliant. Promising to sate her unrelenting hunger, she and Melkor came back to Valinor, intending to destroy the Trees. Then, during a time of festival, Melkor and Ungoliant suddenly attacked. Melkor thrust a great spear into the Trees and Ungoliant drank the sap that poured from the wounds, draining the Trees and poisoning them. The Trees quickly withered and died, plunging Aman into complete darkness for a time. In the fear and confusion that followed, Melkor sped to Formenos and broke into the fortress. There, he slew Finwë, father of Fëanor, and stole the Silmarils along with all the other gems that lay there. The Silmarils burned Melkor's hand, causing him immeasurable agony, but he did not release them. He and Ungoliant fled to the North, and the Valar gave chase, but the Unlight of Ungoliant bewildered them and the two escaped. The two thieves crossed the Grinding Ice of the Helcaraxë and entered into Middle-earth, completing Melkor's revenge. In Lammoth, Melkor and Ungoliant approached the a rebuilt and fortified Angband (as Sauron had remained there following the War of the Powers), with Melkor hoping to escape and leave his promise to feed Ungoliant unfulfilled. Ungoliant however, saw through his plan and stopped with him before they reached Angband. She demanded that he surrender the treasure of Formenos to sate her hunger as he had promised, and begrudgingly he gave her the lesser treasures he had taken, but he would not give her the Silmarils which lay hidden within his right hand. With his refusal to surrender the Silmarils, Ungoliant attacked Melkor, weaving her dark webbing about him. His resulting cry of pain and anguish roused the Balrogs from their slumber in the darkest depths of Angband. With a tempest of fire they came to his aid, and drove away Ungoliant, but Melkor recalled them, and thus Ungoliant escaped. When Fëanor found his father was slain, he cursed Melkor and named him Morgoth, meaning "Dark Enemy", and by that name was he known ever after. The name Melkor was never spoken again by his enemies or allies and servants alike. Morgoth was pleased that Sauron, the greatest of his servants, had rebuilt Angband and Utumno, while having also bred the foul race of the Orcs and other creatures from corrupted Elves and animals of Yavanna. Thus, he left Sauron to fashioning evil servants, while he himself recalled his remaining armies of Boldogs, Balrogs, Vampires and other demons. In the dark halls of Angband, now his eternal seat of power, Morgoth assembled a great host, preparing for the Elves' eventual attack. First Age In Beleriand Fëanor followed Morgoth to Middle-earth with the greater part of the Ñoldor in rebellion, hoping to recover the Silmarils. This action triggered the tragic War of the Great Jewels, in which the elves would be utterly defeated in the end. Upon learning of the arrival of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth, Morgoth sent armies of orcs against Fëanor's host, hoping to destroy them before they could establish any viable defenses. Though the Ñoldor were outnumbered, they swiftly and completely destroyed the Boldogs; only a handful returned to Angband. But Fëanor, in his pride and arrogance, thought to come at Morgoth himself and pursued them. Soon, he and his vanguard drew far ahead of the main host, and the orcs, seeing this, turned and gave battle at the gates of Angband. Due to their proximity to Angband, a number of Balrogs emerged to aid the boldogs, and the elves with Fëanor were quickly killed. Fëanor fought on alone, but was eventually struck down by Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrogs. Though a relief force under the command of his sons saved him from being killed on the field of battle, Fëanor's wounds were mortal and he perished soon after. Shortly after Fëanor's death, Morgoth sent an embassy to the Noldor offering terms of surrender, even promising a Silmaril. Maedhros agreed to the parley, but both sides, expecting treachery, came with greater force than was agreed. Unfortunately for the Elves, Morgoth's force was the greater of the two, and was accompanied by Balrogs. The Elven company was quickly slain with the exception of Maedhros, who was captured and chained by his right hand to one of Thangorodrim's many cliffs. Morgoth sent word to the Ñoldor, promising to release Maedhros on the condition that the Elves would depart from the North and cease their war against him. However, the Elves knew that Morgoth would not honor his word, and sent no reply. It was at this time that the host of Fingolfin, which had been betrayed and abandoned by Fëanor's host in Aman, came at last to Middle-earth. Tension between the two hosts quickly developed and Morgoth, seeing that the Noldor were divided, made plans to destroy his distracted foes. To his dismay however, the Valar revealed the creation of the Sun and the Moon, which confounded Morgoth and his servants for a time. To counter these new lights, Morgoth sent up nigh-impenetrable clouds of smoke from the Iron Mountains to darken Hithlum. During the time of confusion and inaction among Morgoth's forces by these new lights, Fingon traveled to Angband, aided by the very darkness Morgoth had set upon Hithlum, and rescued Maedhros. In doing so, he set into motion a series of events that united the Noldor and allowed them to establish mighty kingdoms in Beleriand and Hithlum. When Morgoth initiated his next offensive, the Ñoldor swiftly and completely destroyed his forces and set a siege upon Angband, hoping to forever contain the evil of Morgoth. When he had waited many years, Morgoth made trial of his foes, causing the Iron Mountains to erupt and sending an army of orcs down through the passes, but to no avail, for the orcs were easily defeated by the Noldor. After this failure, Morgoth took to capturing what elves he could, breaking them with the power of his will and chaining their lives to his. These Elves became his spies among the Ñoldor, and they kept him appraised of the movements and plans of his enemies. One hundred years later, Morgoth sent an army into the north to approach Hithlum from the side, but an army under the command of Fingon destroyed them yet again. At this point, Sauron came to realize that Morgoth's hosts were unaided were no match for the Ñoldor, and began experimenting with ways to create deadlier creatures for his lord's armies. Another century passed, and the issuing of the first dragon, Glaurung, demonstrated the results of the Maia's long labor. Glaurung's sudden appearance scattered the elves in the immediate vicinity of Angband, but a company of archers under Fingon's command engaged him before he could do much more than frighten the elves. As Glaurung was barely half-grown, his hide was not yet invulnerable to the elven arrows and he fled the field. Sauron was displeased with Glaurung for revealing himself before he had planned, for he had hoped to keep his existence secret from both the Elves and Morgoth, but ultimately Glaurung's youthful foray was of little consequence and Sauron continued to keep up the facade of being still loyal to the Dark Enemy. Some time later, when men first arrived in Beleriand, it was revealed that Morgoth had left Angband and walked among the fathers of men. Hoping to corrupt them to his service, he spread his lies among them, and found them to be considerably easier to sway than the elves had been. However, the strengthening of the elven kingdoms as well as that of Sauron's own forces came worry Morgoth, and he returned to Angband before his labors were complete. Nevertheless, most Men believed or half-believed his lies and either departed from the North or joined with the Dark Powers. However, a small group of men that became known as the Edain resisted the enemies. They provided the elves with vital intelligence as to the doings of Morgoth in the North, as many of their hardiest chose to live within sight of Angband's gates. While the growing friendship within Men and Elves grew and troubled Morgoth deeply, he also had faced significant loss from Sauron's own betrayal and establishment as a separate Power. Nonetheless, the two remained allies, as for now their main goal was to defeat the Elves of Gondolin and Doriath as well as the Edain. Dagor Bragollach About 455 years after Fingolfin came to Middle-earth, Morgoth deemed that the time was ripe to destroy the elves and their allies. One cold winter night, when the elven watch was least vigilant, Morgoth sent forth terrible rivers of fire and lava from Thangorodrim and poisonous fumes from the Iron Mountains. The Elves were completely unprepared for such an assault, and a great many Ñoldor perished on the Ard-galen, as the fires consumed it and transformed it into a lifeless wasteland, forever after known as the Anfauglith. In the wake of these fires there came Glaurung, now fully grown, the Balrogs, and armies of boldogs and other demons in numbers such as the elves had never conceived of. Thus began the Dagor Bragollach. The Siege of Angband was swiftly broken and the forces of the elves were scattered. So swift and overwhelming was Morgoth's assault that the various elven kingdoms were unable to marshal their forces in any sort of unified front, and as such Morgoth was able to engage the elven forces in a piecemeal fashion, greatly blunting the effectiveness of any resistance. With the exception of Maedhros and his fortress upon the Hill of Himring, the sons of Fëanor and Finarfin were overthrown and utterly defeated. Fingolfin and Fingon only just barely managed to defend Hithlum from Morgoth's onslaught, as the mountains surrounding it provided an effective barrier against Morgoth's fires. The elves were completely driven from the forests of Dorthonion, and many of the grey elves forsook the war altogether and went to Doriath. When news came to Fingolfin of the totality of the disasters that had befallen the elven forces, a great despair came upon him. Believing the Noldor to have been defeated beyond any hope of recovery, he rode forth alone from Hithlum to the gates of Angband in a wrath so potent that he was said to have resembled Oromë himself. When he arrived, he smote upon the doors of Morgoth's fortress, challenging the Dark Enemy to come forth to single combat. Though Morgoth did not wish to, Fingolfin's challenge was heard by all in Angband, and was given in such an insulting manner that to ignore it would have been to lose face before his captains. Morgoth issued forth in black armor from Angband to confront Fingolfin. Wielding the terrible hammer Grond, Morgoth repeatedly attempted to smite the elven king, but succeeded only in carving many fiery pits in the ground from his missed strikes. Fingolfin long managed to avoid Morgoth's blows, and wounded the Dark Lord seven times. But at last, Fingolfin grew weary, and Morgoth thrice drove him to his knees. Fingolfin arose each time to continue the fight, but eventually he fell backwards into one of the many pits formed by Morgoth's missed attacks. Morgoth then set his foot upon Fingolfin's neck and killed him, but not before Fingolfin, with his last stroke, hewed Morgoth's foot with his sword. Then Morgoth broke the elf's body and prepared to feed it to his wolves. But Thorondor, the King of the Eagles, swooped down upon Morgoth, marring his face with his talons, and rescued the body of the elf-king. Fingolfin's last stroke gave Morgoth a permanent limp, and the pain of his seven wounds could not be healed, nor were the scars ever erased. However, despite his great victory, Morgoth had made a critical mistake. So great had been his malice and his desire to destroy the elves that he had struck before his plans were fully realized, and in his hatred and contempt he had underestimated the resolve and valor of his foes. Now Morgoth found that the elves and Edain, recovering from the initial shock of his onslaught, had begun to make small gains against his outlying forces. He therefore checked his advance, and withdrew the main host of the boldogs to Angband. For though he knew that his victory had been relatively decisive, his own losses had been as numerous as the losses that had been accrued by the elves. Afterwards, Morgoth sent out many spies, and he sent messengers to men, feigning pity. When the Edain refused his false offers of peace, he summoned his Easterling allies over the Blue Mountains to harass them militarily. Seven years passed before Morgoth renewed his offensive. He assailed Hithlum with great strength but just as he was on the verge of victory, Círdan and a host under his command came at the last moment and helped Fingon to turn the hosts of Angband back. Nirnaeth Arnoediad Soon after, Morgoth became aware that Maedhros was making a great leagueagainst him, and driving his boldogs off the northern heights. As such, he took council against them and prepared his forces for a major confrontation. When the elves eventually made it to Angband, the Battle of Nirnaeth Arnoediad began. Ultimately, the battle was a complete and decisive victory for Morgoth. The power of the elves and their Edain compatriots to make war against Morgoth was utterly and permanently broken. All of the great kingdoms of the Noldor in Beleriand besides Gondolin, were destroyed, and Hithlum was at last taken as well. The Edain who did not flee were enslaved by Easterlings, and Húrin was taken captive. The Cursing of Húrin Morgoth was also well known for the imprisonment of Húrin of the House of Hador during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. In the last hours of the battle, Húrin and his kin defended Turgon, for he was the last heir to the thrones of Gondolin and Fingolfinafter his brother Fingon fell in battle. Turgon narrowly escaped the clutches of the host of boldogs due to the valor of Húrin, Huor, and their men. Unfortunately, all but Húrin fell after the onslaught of Morgoth's forces. After slaying untold numbers of trolls and orcs single-handedly, Húrin was captured by Gothmog and taken to Angband. Morgoth knew that Húrin had been to Gondolin, and therefore knew the city's location. He sought to extract the information from him but, despite inflicting terrible torment upon his captive, he was unsuccessful. From a distance Morgoth put the son and daughter of Húrin, Turin and Nienor, under a species of diabolic oppression: his thought followed them and gave them bad luck, though they were not possessed. By this means he drove them at last to madness and despair; though there is doubt as to whether in the extremity of his malice he cheated himself, as their madness saved them from damnation. nd so Húrin stayed and was chained atop Thangorodrim, watching his homelands fall under the shadow of Morgoth until he released him. Túrin, who was valiant and powerful, nearly escaped the curse, as feared by Morgoth, but in the end did not. He and his sister Nienor Níniel perished. Thus, the curse of Morgoth on the Children of Húrin was fulfilled. Fall of Gondolin It was said that Morgoth and Sauron hated and feared the House of Fingolfin the most of the three Houses of the sons of Finwe, and the former feared most of that house Fingolfin's son Turgon, as it was prophesised that from the House of Turgon would his doom come. Following Turgon's escape from the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, both Morgoth and Sauron sought to find and destroy the last of the free kingdoms of the Noldor; Gondolin, where Turgon resided. Though Morgoth had been unable to force Húrin to reveal the location of the last great elven kingdom nor had his demon spies learned anything of it, it was Sauron's orcs who eventually captured Maeglin, sister-son of Turgon, the King of Gondolin. Threatened with unimaginable torment at the hands of the fallen Maia himself, Maeglin offered the secrets of Gondolin's defenses in exchange for his own well-being. Additionally, he made a promise to kill Tuor personally, and was given permission by Sauron to take Idril for himself. Having lusted after Idril for decades, Sauron's offer secured Maeglin's loyalty, and he became a willing servant of the Necromancer. After learning all he could from Maeglin, Sauron sent him back to Gondolin to aid the invasion from within when the time came and sent word to Morgoth, hoping that his success would ease his lord's wrath at his defeat in Tol Sirion. Pleased by the news, Morgoth forgave his chief lieutenant's failure, but feared that sending him to lead the attack would end up as another mistake. Thus, he left Gothmog, Sauron's equal in rank, in control of a great host of Boldogs, Dragons and Balrogs. With the aid of Sauron's "pawn" Maeglin, the army from Angband brought down the city of Gondolin, winning a permanent victory for the Dark Lord. Despite Gothmog's subsequent demise, Morgoth had grasped triumph and rushed to claim lordship over Beleriand and over Arda itself as "Elder King". Final defeat However, Morgoth's triumph was relatively short lived. Persuaded by Eärendil to take pity on the Elves and Edain, the Valar once again took up arms against Morgoth's tyranny. Unable to understand compassion, Morgoth did not expect that the Valar would ever help the Ñoldor after the terrible sins they had committed, and did not foresee the assault from Aman. But the Valar mustered their forces, and a great battle began between Morgoth and the Host of Valinor. Morgoth emptied all of Angband, and his devices and engines and armies of slaves were so various and powerful that the fighting spilled across all Beleriand. In the end, Morgoth's forces were utterly defeated. The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns at the very roots of the earth, and the orcs were slaughtered. Then Morgoth quailed, and dared not come forth himself, but he had one last weapon at his command: the monstrous Winged Dragons. From out of the pits of Angband they issued, and so sudden and ruinous was their attack, with great power and a tempest of fire, that they drove back the host of the Valar. But then Eärendil came with Vingilot, accompanied by Thorondor and all the great birds, and Eärendil slew Ancalagon The Black, whose great bulk fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim, breaking them in his ruin.13 Morgoth was utterly defeated and stood at bay, but was yet unvaliant. He fled into the deepest of his mines and sued for peace and pardon, but his feet were hewn from under him, and he was cast upon his face. He was bound with the chain Angainor, his Iron Crown was beaten into a collar for his neck, and he was thrust through the Door of Night into the Timeless Void. The two remaining Silmarils were recovered from him, though shortly thereafter they were again lost.Category:Dark Lords Category:Servants of Evil Category:Servants of Sauron Category:Fallen Ainur Category:Traitors